In an intricate “awake” brain surgery, a musician underwent a marathon operation in a private hospital in Rome, remaining conscious the whole time. Not only that, but amazingly he played a saxophone throughout the 9-hour procedure, in one of the first surgeries of its kind ever done.
A surgical team led by Dr. Christian Brogna, a neurosurgeon specializing in complex cancers and awake surgeries, performed the removal of a brain tumor from the 35-year-old man at Paideia International Hospital on Oct. 10.
G. Z. was discharged from the hospital on Oct. 13 and is making a full recovery. He described feeling “tranquility” during the 9-hour surgery, which he spent wide awake, playing his saxophone.
Brogna said, “When we operate on the brain, we are operating on the sense of self, so we need to make sure that we do not damage the patient as a person: their personality, the way they feel emotions, the way they get through life. The patient will tell you what is important in his life and it is your job to protect his wishes.”
The surgery required extensive preparation and cutting-edge technologies, Brogna said, adding, “Paideia International Hospital is equipped not only with the technology I needed, but also with a 100-square-meter operating room, and we also had the opportunity to organize a tailor-made team for this intervention.”
Brogna’s hand-picked team included ten professionals drawn specifically from hospitals all over the world, including neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists, neuropsychologists, neurophysiologists, and engineers. The specialized equipment needed for the operation included neuronavigation with tractography, ultrasound aspirators, and intraoperative ultrasound.
A tracer was used to distinguish the cancer cells from surrounding healthy tissue. G. Z. was monitored continuously for optimal brain function during the operation.
The “architectural complexity” of the brain and its “remarkable plasticity” make each person’s brain very different from another’s, Brogna said. Awake surgery makes it possible to map the neuronal networks that control brain functions—such as playing, speaking, moving, remembering, and counting—with great precision.
“Every awake surgery not only allows [us] to obtain the maximum result in terms of removal of the pathology, but it is a real discovery,” he said. “Each time, it offers us a window into the functioning of this fascinating, but still in many ways mysterious organ, which is the brain.”
